I had a flashback to a movie that fascinated me when I saw it on television many years ago. Fearing that human error or a lack of judgment might trigger armageddon, the government puts its nuclear arsenal under the control of a sophisticated computer system. Unfortunately, the computers quickly outwit their designers and, realizing that they have the power to exterminate all life on the planet, hold mankind hostage.
The premise of “Colossus: The Forbin Project” (1970) has new relevance today for a variety of reasons.
- The ascendance of Artificial Intelligence is raising practical and ethical concerns.
- The world’s two nuclear super powers are at odds over a hot war in Europe. (The Soviets play a key role in the movie, but I won’t give it away.)
- The chief scientist in charge of designing the computer system was played brilliantly by actor Eric Braedon, who went on to have a long and celebrated career in daytime dramas. Mr. Braedon, now 82, recently announced that he is battling cancer. My thoughts are with him.
I wasn’t yet a teenager when I first watched “The Forbin Project” on television. I had no idea that I would have a career working with computers. I had never even seen a computer; they had not yet become ubiquitous.
Nevertheless, the story made a powerful impression. I hope that mankind will make wiser decisions in real life than they did in the story, but given the integral role of computer systems in our day to day lives, something that could not have been imagined in 1970, I fear that we may be facing a perilous future.
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